"I take full responsibility for my actions and I don't wish to dwell on my mistake. To my fans and everyone I offended, I ask that you join me in moving on from this unfortunate situation."

But Aston Villa skipper Micah Richards was clearly unimpressed saying: "Obviously the red card killed us. We really thought we could win before the match.

"Maybe if we'd have had 11 men on the pitch, we could have done so."

But Richards has told the snipers that Villa are going to scrap until they drop on the run-in and he is hoping the drop in question is not the dreaded plunge into the Championship.

The bookies and thousands of fed-up fans have already dismissed Villa's run-in as a pointless exercise.

But the former Manchester City star says his men have the spirit to launch one desperate last push to clamber to safety.

Richards said: "We have the fighting spirit. We have 14 games now and we will give 100 per cent until the end. Until it's mathematically impossible, I will not rule us out. We know it will be hard, I am a realist too.

"A lot of people have said that the players don't care here. I think we showed at West Ham that we fight until the end. A lot has been said - things like 'The boys are not up for it'. But I think we showed that we will give it our all, I thought we were extremely unlucky."